The Texans pass only 46.63% of the time through 5 games and only 61.61% of their yards come from the pass, and play action is a staple in their offense. So we need to play at least 6 in the box, with focus on the Left Edge of the offensive line and the Guard/Tackle gaps on the right. It is going to be vital that we set the edge on defense and funnel the Texans to run in the middle.

Breakdowns of how they run.

Rotate the defensive lineman often to keep them fresh, just contain the run in any fashion possible without dropping extra players into the box. Resign Merling for this game, I have more confidence in Merling in the run than Neal. Put Benson on the Returnable IR. ;)

Please limit the 2 man Defensive Line fronts.. unless it is to funnel the runs inside. Hawk has been playing much closer to the line of scrimmage, DJ Smith has got to plug the holes. Bishop will be missed in this game.. but Smith has to pop Sunday Night.

2) Even up the Time of Possession

To date, the Texans lead the league in Time of Possession at 35:29 per game, leaving their defense on the sidelines and in the top 10 in the fewest defensive snaps. We have to balance that out some with controlling the ball and keeping them off schedule in terms of their balance.

We have already played three defenses that allow less per play in Seattle, Niners, and the Bears. We have to find a way to sustain drives.. and we have to apply a little pressure on them to gamble a bit more on offense. The Texans are in bottom third of the league in yards per rush and but are the fifth stingiest in pass yards per play and 4th in passing yards allowed per game.

Run the Ball and effectively.

We are going to have to buck the odds a bit against their defense.. they currently are allowing on 26 % conversion on 3rd down attempts.. conversely we are allowing 36% on 3rd downs on defense. We convert around 40% of the time on 3rd downs (middle of the pack in the NFL) so we have to pick that up on offense.

3. If we can limit their run, it will trickle down by limiting the play action pass thus their passing game.

This team runs play action a great deal to make their passing game flow, past Johnson, they don't have many guys that can beat coverage consistently by themselves. Maybe Daniels with matchups, but the collective guys not named Johnson should be able to be covered in man. Johnson snaps are being reduced and he seems to lack the same explosion as early in his career (he is nicked up). So we have to minimize the effect of the play action pass and not bite on the run fakes.

If we can limit the run with the box players, we will assist in this priority.The Texans don't have a real good passing game, they are somewhat dependent on the play action pass.. take this away.

4. The Interior of our offensive line has to win their matchups.

The Texans, in my opinion, have the best interior pressure in the league between Watt and Smith. Beyond the interior pass rush, the Texans only have 5 sacks in 5 games, 2 of those on DB blitzes. If we can keep the pocket formed in the interior of the line, we should be able to handle the remaining pressure. If they cannot, this would be a prime team to roll the pocket on and make Watt especially consume even more energy in getting pressure.

5. Take advantage of their special teams.

The Texans are in the bottom third of the league in punt return coverage and kick return coverage. We need to take advantage of those weaknesses and give us an assist in field position.

1. Check2. Check3. Check4. Check. For the most part.. JJ made plays, but Smith was silent. As the numbers support.. they lack another pass rush source other than the inside.5. Check

"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"

This is what I thought would happen following the second half of the Seattle game. A collective effort led by the best quarterback in football. I do worry about Green Bay versus physical teams. The Texans run the ball well, but they aren't a wedge it up the middle type of offense. They rely on the stretch. Nevertheless, the Packers were phenomenal. This feels like a statement win.

This is what I thought would happen following the second half of the Seattle game. A collective effort led by the best quarterback in football. I do worry about Green Bay versus physical teams. The Texans run the ball well, but they aren't a wedge it up the middle type of offense. They rely on the stretch. Nevertheless, the Packers were phenomenal. This feels like a statement win.

Oh, and Aaron Rodgers is pretty good.

The team in the NFC I'm worried about is the Giants. Our OL seems to get pushed around like rag dolls against them.

Against the Texans, our OL held up really well, except against that sack leader guy. Bummer he passed up CM3.

Yes, I LOVE the fact that we finally had a RB take 20+ carries. Green had 22. I don't care about the yards. I just care about the carries.

As weird as this is, rushing success has NO BEARING WHATSOEVER on the success of a team. However, number of runs does.

Weird how that works. That's one of those head scratchers.

Not a head scratcher, when you're leading you run more to run the clock out.

That said, having an at least marginally effective run game, particularly on some of the draw plays, and running it often enough to make the opposing defense stop and think seemed to slow their pass rush and let our pass attack shine. You talked about this in another post. This is what we need to do. We may not have the most balanced offense, and we're not built to. If we play it like we did tonight though we make the other team at least think about the run and that hesitation is all Rodgers and company need when they're on their game.

After finishing this post I feel like your "head scratcher" line might have been sarcastic... hard to read tone.

The team in the NFC I'm worried about is the Giants. Our OL seems to get pushed around like rag dolls against them.

Against the Texans, our OL held up really well, except against that sack leader guy. Bummer he passed up CM3.

Watt can have the personal achievements, Clay and the Pack will take the win any day. Matthews dominated their run game any time they came his way. May not be sexy on the stat sheet but it was far more effective.

Of course, I heard it. It wasn’t like I paid a lot of attention to it, but people, whether it’s good stuff or bad stuff, friends of mine, they like to tell me what’s being said out there. I’m not somebody that watches a ton of TV or puts a whole lot of worth into some of those comments, but I feel like I’ve always played with a chip on my shoulder. It helps when people give me a reason to have that chip.

James Jones said:

I ain’t never seen him that focused. He was extremely focused today. You could see it in his eyes. You could see it when he talked to us.

You know, he calls us up before every game, and he was just like, ‘I’m going to be the lead dog. Follow me. I’m going to make some plays. I haven’t been playing that well. I’m going to make some plays.’

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